Home | Director's Notes | A message from Emory A. Rounds, III, Director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics

A message from Emory A. Rounds, III, Director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics

August 7, 2018

I am honored to lead the U.S. Office of Government Ethics. I am also deeply humbled by the weight of this agency’s mission. There are few more important duties in government than protecting the public’s trust.

For over 41 years of public service, I have had the privilege to serve with dedicated, talented, and honorable public servants in the U.S. Navy, the Department of Commerce, the White House, and most recently at the U.S. Office of Government Ethics. Today, as every day, these talented professionals work tirelessly to maintain the public’s trust in its government.

To succeed, the executive branch ethics program needs more than its dedicated public servants – sufficient resources, leadership support, and freedom from improper influence are also essential to success. It will be one of my primary leadership goals to make sure they have them.

Securing the public’s trust requires that government leaders at all times and for all purposes put duty to country before self. I will soon begin meeting with senior department and agency leaders to emphasize this solemn duty, and to make clear that the U.S. Office of Government Ethics simply cannot – given its mission – tolerate abuse of the public’s trust by an executive branch official or employee.

The U.S. Office of Government Ethics will continue to ensure that the citizens of our nation can help ensure their leaders are complying with ethics laws and rules. The agency will continue to make ethics documents available and communicate with the public to make sure that the people’s business is conducted with all appropriate transparency.

I look forward to serving this nation as the Director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, and I thank you for the opportunity to do so.